Olanzapine Withdrawal: Sally’s Story

Editorial Note: How long does withdrawal last? How much overlap is there between antipsychotic, benzodiazepine and antidepressant withdrawal? This is the first of two posts covering these issues. All answers later this week in part two. For Antipsychotic Withdrawal – see also Carole’s Story.

I was prescribed olanzapine 20 mg in 2001, as a mood stabilizer, following the familiar path from depression, to severe depression, to treatment-resistant depression, to bipolar disorder.

I had a couple of goes coming off too quickly, and suffered horrific withdrawal symptoms; headache, agitation, anxiety, insomnia, nausea and vomiting, and feeling appallingly ill. I am vomit phobic, so the sickness drove me back on to the drug, and the symptoms went away.

By 2010, after 9 years on olanzapine I had hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, trouble with my body temperature, was seriously tachycardic, and weighed 16 stone. I was 8.5 stone when I first became ill in 1998.

In 2010 I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer, which is linked to obesity – womens’ fat excretes an enzyme which predisposes one to gynaecological cancer. My surgeon advised me to “get off the stuff before it kills you, Sally”. With the help of my husband R and therapist I tried again. I could find no information about how to do it anywhere, apart from vague advice not to go too quickly.

Get off the stuff before it kills you

We decided we would go incredibly slowly, and that R would make the drops in dose without me knowing. He made the first drop in July 2010. In December 2012 we finished.

At 2.5 mg I noticed a significant difference; the moronic lethargy had gone and I was moving around, speaking, engaging in life – too many changes in feelings and personality to note here. But no obvious physical symptoms during the withdrawal. We thought we’d done it, the sun had come out in my brain and a new life was beginning.

It wasn’t that simple. From February 2012 the following happened;

I noticed subtle difficulties with balance, a sense of instability/rocking. Difficulty going upstairs and negotiating my way round furniture. Crossing the road, and turning my head quickly were troublesome.

I went stone deaf in my left ear. I guess this was sudden, as I noticed it when putting the phone to that ear and not being able to hear anything. I assumed it was my daughter’s phone at the time!

Eating was difficult, or, rather, the mechanics of eating were hard. Lifting food to my mouth, talking and eating. Friends remarked that I never ate anything.

I had a sense of running downhill and not being able to stop, mentally.

I became increasingly short tempered. Small irritations provoked disproportionate responses. I fell out with all my closest friends. It has nearly cost me my marriage.

My speech became odd – although words poured out, and words came back to me that I hadn’t used for years (“prescient, torpid, metonym”) they came out in bursts – almost staccato. I also swore fluently and inventively – and frequently. I joked that I must have developed Tourette’s – I had no idea that Tourette’s is linked to dopamine.

I’ve always had an active sense of humour, even when deeply depressed I could crack a joke. Now it became hyperactive; everything struck me as funny. Reading a comic writer like Bill Bryson was almost painful, I laughed too hard and long.

I was feeling unwell. I thought I must have a urine infection. Apparently I didn’t, although a small amount of blood was found in my urine.

Bad to worse

When my balance got worse and in March 2012 I collapsed in London, I was admitted to St Thomas’s and had an MRI scan. There was no new damage but the scan revealed old damage; a hole in the front right temporal lobe, with surrounding scar tissue. Also two infarcts in the caudate and cerebellum. I had no idea that I had had strokes.

For some reason I do not understand, neurologists did not attribute my severe balance problems to the cerebellar stroke. They persisted in their diagnosis of a vestibular problem with my ears despite the fact that I had no nausea, sense of spinning, vertigo or dizziness. It was just that the world rocked up and down, backwards and forwards violently when I sat up, stood up or moved my head. Leaning against a wall, it felt as though the wall was pushing me forwards and back. If I closed my eyes, I fell over.

Whilst in St Thomas’s I experienced the first bout of acute unwellness. It was so intense that I had a sense I might die. I had no pain, anywhere. I wasn’t nauseous. It baffled the medics, and continues to do so. People withdrawing from venlafaxine describe the same thing.

I developed severe hyperacusis – I seemed to be able to hear everything, all at once. The filtering mechanism of the ear which perceives some sounds as faint and other closer ones more loudly had gone. In subsequent visits to A&E, lying in my bay, I could hear, crystal clear, conversations at the far end of the room. Sudden, loud sounds made me jump out of my skin – a dropped fork, a sudden cough.

From April 2012 onwards I had a number of admissions to hospital for severe unwellness, slurred speech and increased loss of balance. Twice I lost control of my bladder. In July I had another episode of dangerously spiking blood pressure and tachycardia. This led to exhaustive tests to determine whether I had a recognised neurological disorder – MS, Lyme’s disease, even AIDS. All came back clear. I also had tests on my vestibular system – again, it proved entirely normal.

Cardio tests revealed intermittent atrial fibrillation which may have caused the strokes. Olanzapine is implicated in strokes, and cardio-vascular disease. I was put on warfarin.

Psychological overlay?

Every time I raised the issue of whether I could be suffering an acute withdrawal syndrome from olanzapine it was roundly dismissed. I gave up mentioning it in the end. “Psychological overlay” was a frequently used phrase. In the end I gave up reading any letters from medics or the hospital, and threw them in the bin.

Functional Neurological Symptoms were also diagnosed. i.e neurological symptoms that do not fit known symptom criteria and must therefore derive from “psychological overlay”. It’s a sexy topic among neurologists in the UK and is assuming the status of BPD in psychiatry. I considered it seriously, as I knew I could dissociate traumatic events.

But due consideration led me to reject the theory. There was so much else happening; hearing, balance, unwellness, appalling temperature dysregulation, continual thirst, severe insomnia, horrific nightmares which could propel me out of bed, arms flailing, clumsiness, toes on my right foot that moved continuously and a sensation in my leg of worms crawling under the skin, daily bouts of acute fatigue that wiped me out.

All this did not fit the FNS criteria. I thought maybe I had ME for a while, but again, what I was experiencing didn’t fit. Because I got no help, or affirmation that olanzapine could be the cause, I did a lot of searching for myself. I had to, but it was very lonely.

18 months later

Now, 18 months after discontinuing olanzapine, some things are settling; my blood sugar returned promptly to normal, and has remained there ever since. My blood pressure has also settled, and my heart rate has gone down to the upper end of normal. After intensive neuro physio, I am managing the balance better – although the imbalance is still there, and worsens when I’m tired, I am learning to cope. The hyperacusis is also settling although some distortion remains.

What I am left with:

Acute bouts of unwellness when I feel I am going to die, every 7 – 10 days.

Blurred vision, especially after using the computer, or concentrating while painting

Skin problems – diagnosed as acne

Rapid sensory overload when in busy environments such as shops, stations, etc.

In many ways my life is more restricted than when I was dulled with the drugs. Even worse, I am more aware of my limitations, and am deeply frustrated by them. I have a profound sense that my life may not last very long, despite an urgent feeling of wanting to live, and the richness of life.

Comments

A sad and troubling case to be sure. What seems less obvious is the role of a withdrawal syndrome in Sally’s symptoms.

While exact dates are not given, apparently about 2 months elapse between the complete termination of olanzapine administration and the onset of symptoms. Its quite difficult to imagine exactly what the mechanism for such a delay would be given olanapine’s half life of 30 hours and the fact that the last dose was likely 2.5 mg or less.

On the other hand, she developed symptoms such as difficulties in propioception and coordination; loss of balance; dsyphagia; urinary incontinence, tingling sensations; and speech, vision, and cogntive problems, all of which are common in stroke. She has atrial fibrillation, which is a huge risk factor for stroke, and has imaging evidence of having had strokes.

It seems clear that her symptoms are related to stroke, and not a discontinuation syndrome. It’s possible that the stroke is somehow drug-related, but the case for this has not been made in the article. I found nothing in a search of pubmed tying olanzapine to stroke except for 2 case reports. A large case control study found a modest increase in stroke associated with antipsychotic use in the elderly, but only during the first month of use, not 2 months after stopping.

Sally’s situation is deeply unfortunate. It might be related to olanzapine, though I don’t think an effective argument has been presented that it is. Its very difficult to see any connection of her current problems to anything that can meaningfully be called a withdrawal syndrome.

I have two options here – one is to delete everything by F98 who has never seen a problem on a drug caused by a drug or to post his comment and a brief response.

It may be correct to say withdrawal syndrome is not quite the right word for what is reported by Sally – legacy effects may be a better word. The skin disturbances are ones several people I have seen have also reported – she sheds new light on these. The difficulty in losing weight will be sobering to the 80% of people who take olanzapine who gain massive amounts of weight.

Its highly likely the stroke caused some problems – but we’ve no idea when this happened. The hyperacusis, temperature dysregulation and other problems have all been reported from the 1960s onwards.

Its widely accepted by clinicians that olanzapine, clozapine and quetiapine all come with marked dependence and withdrawal problems. Acknowledging these would seem a better way to build a better antipsychotic – find out what factor it is that leads to dependence and eliminate it.

Beyond this, it should not be surprising that giving a poison for years should lead to problems. Is this prejudicial to say? There is no other time we pump our bodies as full of chemicals as when we take pills. The art of medicine lies in using poisons to bring about good but we should not be surprised when poisons poison, and doctors are going to commit professional suicide if they don’t alert patients to this risk. Having poisoned someone its also professional and scientific suicide not to work with them in order to map out just what has happened and learn as much as can be learnt.
DH

I am writing because I have been on olanzapine for 12 months now. I am in the process of tapering off. Which is easier said than done. I am afraid of this drug and the ravage it has caused. I am also afraid of the brain damage it has caused. My doctors says that there is no such thing but I am not sure they know what serious drug this is.

My question is how can I get off this drug without experiencing the awful withdrawal side effects and should I be concerned about brain damage. I am tapering really really slowly off them

Note for anyone who may be trying to wean off of olanzapine/Zyprexa, based on patient forum comments and my own experiences with the medication: (with your psychiatrist’s approval and guidance)

Cut the tablets into smaller and smaller fractions and gradually taper off the drug over several days/weeks/whatever it takes; and taking a tablet of ibuprofen every four-six hours when stopping the medication may also help with withdrawal symptoms from the olanzapine/Zyprexa, because ibuprofen’s anti-inflammatory and pain relief functions are also due to it preventing the breakdown of our natural cannabinoids, however ibuprofen doesn’t cause psychiatric affects or withdrawal symptoms, so it must not be affecting the cannabinoids in quite the same way as olanzapine/Zyprexa.

Olanzapine prevents the breakdown of one of our body’s natural cannabinoids — one that naturally only increases in dead brains. I was only on the medication for a short while but feel that it has caused permanent changes in my brain and gastrointestinal system. My blog posts are somewhat messy but may provide more information than you might find elsewhere. The withdrawal can be intense and scary but I did find consistent use of ibuprofen helpful when I withdrew from my medical marijuana recently. The olanzapine left me with more severe withdrawal symptoms from that too. I still have four bottles of olanzapine but I don’t plan to take it for any reason after finding out more about its effects and risks — suicide and homicide during withdrawal, not just the diabetes and excess weight gain due to edema and the “munchies.”

It may be overactivating our body’s natural post-death decomposition pathways. The cannabinoid that it prevents from being broken down activates a group of less typical cannabinoid receptors compared to the more common brain type 1 cannabinoid receptors.

Good luck, stay safe, and I hope you have a trusted friend for emotional support during the withdrawal phase. Withdrawal at 18 hours to 4 days gets through the worst of the psychological symptoms – for me at least, and taking ibuprofen, one capsule every 4 hours helped with the withdrawal from medical marijuana, but I hadn’t known about that when I was weaning off olanzapine. Cutting the tablets into tinier and tinier pieces helped reduce the suicidal thoughts when I last weaned off olanzapine. At this point I am not sure that I’m going to try the medical marijuana again because the suicidal withdrawal symptoms are so severe.

/Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes./

Thanks for the reply. I have a pill cutter at home so i Am doing it very slowly. Actually as slow as it comes but I can still feel the withdrawal effects even when I am doing it so slow. This is a very dangerous drug and becoming free off its chains are very hard.

I still fear its brain damaging effects even though I am on a very little dose. My pdoc has ensured me there is nothing to be worried about. But I am the who is taking the pill and not him.

Hi Jennifer
Thank you so much for taking the time to write your post on this. I was searching for something to explain the physical effects I am feeling and I now know that I have to come off the Olanzapine really slowly, even though I’ve only been on them a month. I was diagnosed with Bipolar over 10 years ago now and still learning new things about the illness, and the horrible meds that I have to take in order to try and live a normal life.

Taper slowly and it will lessen the shock when you totally quit. I took Zyprexa for six years. At year four the side effects started. I did not realize it was Zyprexa causing my seizures. My doctor suggested I double the dose! I refused and did some research on my own! I tried to quit cold turkey and became psychotic. I was having seizures and psychotic for an entire year tapering off Zyprexa. The makers of Zyprexa have been sued for Zyprexa so many times they can no longer be sued for the poison they create. They still mix the deadly drug into other drugs and call it different things like Symbyax (Prozac and Zyprexa). It is still very destructive even in that form. Its been well over a year completely off the drug and I still feel very shaken from the drug. Good luck.

I don’t think anything Formerly 28 said was wrong. To be honest DH, I think his analysis of the situation is fair. He was weighing the pros and cons. You cannot have a black and white view of antipsychotics, and formerly was outlining what he thinks. It is not fair to try and monopolise the situation. We have to see both sides of the argument and not just that anti-psychotics are bad. Problems arise when people start blaming each other.

Hello DH
I totally agree F98 is just a cover up. There is plenty of evidence which drug companies have tried to hide about all the effects Sally is experience. MRI shows holes in the brain – for goodness sake what more evidence do we need!!
What is needed is to sue these ruthless people for the damage they have done in people’s lives. Read ‘Mad In America’ – its the history of Olanzapine, and Psychiatric process / history right from the beginning. And it is horrific. People are dying from the drug, many by suicide!! You can get the above book on Audio, download it to a flash drive and listen while commuting in your car . . .
Anyway are you sure by the way that you meant to say the following?
“Having poisoned someone its also professional and scientific suicide not to work with them in order to map out just what has happened ”
Surely you mean ‘to work with’ not ‘NOT to work’?
Blessings and God save us all from the greedy drug barons!

“a better way to build a better antipsychotic – find out what factor it is that leads to dependence and eliminate it”
As far as I understand many of the lasting effects of such drugs are linked to the destruction of the balance of dopaminergic system that can be largely irreversible. If that is the case the very “antipsychotic” (which in fact is just mostly sedating) action of the drug is the same modality that causes the damage. If that’s the case there’s no way to decouple the two.

As someone who was given Olanzapine, to help with the insomnia (and numerous side effects) of trying to withdrawal from Klonopin, I can attest to the horrendous side effects of both of these poisons!!!
I was only on a small dose of zyprexa:1/2 tab of 2.5 mg. I was worried about cutting down, but thought it wouldn’t be so bad, since I was on such a low dose. I gained 30# in just a few months. My face looks like a mask. I’m tired all the time, but sleep terrible, and have awful, vivid nightmares.
As I cut down, to an 1/8 of a tab, I had trouble walking, thinking; I feel like my head is going to explode! My sleep is worse. I feel so ill!
I was already going through all this from the Klonopin!
I don’t know how long it will take to taper these, but I know they should be illegal to prescribe!
I believe that all of Sally’s problems are a result of discontinuing the zyprexa!!!

Sally’s story is absolutely due to olanzapine withdrawl. Doctors are so ignorant as to the withdrawl effects and long term use. These drugs kill and destroy your life. Lily pharmaseticals made these drugs to where they are almost impossible to get off o and they know it. They will be held accountable by our living god one day!!! I became seriously ill after withdrawl and have been seriously ill for 6 months now!!! They destroy your life. These drugs should never be adminetered by physicians except in cases where the patient has no quality of life to begin with. I have a phd license as a lifetime guinea pig. Do not use them doctors do not know what they are doing to us. I will voice myself when I get well make no mistake!!! Watch out lily phar!!!!

Dr Healy – I believe your decision not to remove Formerly_98 is wise. We only get better by having healthy debates and Formerly definitely seems to represent a viewpoint that those who suffer withdrawal have to contend with.

Of course, this is assuming that Formerly_98’s comments remain constructive and do not sink to ad hominin attacks or baseless criticisms.

John
This is not my website – lots of people have input to it. Close to nothing is censored. But i personally have a sense of dismay when I see something from you appear. I thought your contribution on PSSD was highly destructive, and disingenuous as are a number of your comments. Your characterization of Audrey Bahrick’s input on the PSSD was snide in the extreme. Your efforts to edit the Wikipedia page about me were wild. There has been no hint as far as I can see that you are interested in a conversation.
David

It was interesting for me to read Sally’s story , I can relate to many of her symptoms as I have suffered very badly since stopping Seroxat. In particular was the problem with her balance. The same thing happened to me after stopping Seroxat which I had taken for 8 years. Mine was not a spinning vertigo thing it was rocking, bobbing, a feeling of constant movement even when I was still or even seated, worse on turning my head, sometimes i feel like I have slipped on ice or something slippy on the floor but it is just a sensation.It was and still is very debilitating and It started after stopping the drug, I also had many other symptoms but this is one which has lingered.

Psychotropic drugs are mind, body and spirit altering poisons. They are spell binding and brain damaging. They are prescribed by doctors who often do not know these drugs and the harm they can cause when taken long term. Many people are prescribed many drugs at the same time in large doses They inevitably cause more harm than good and to withdraw can be a nightmare for many. However the worst aspect of these drugs is that they are forced on many vulnerable people in real distress or people who do not conform easily – that they are prescribed for very young children, pregnant mothers and old people and that many people lose their lives because of the over prescribing of prescription drugs. We deserve to know the truth about our prescription drugs!

Came of olanzapeine few months ago after two years thought everything was fine but now all symptoms are coming back again anxiety depression voices and am afraid I will have to start taking again already falling out with friends family any advice

Did you come off olanzapine slowly? If you didn’t then you need to take a slightly smaller dose than the one you used to take and then, very slowly, reduce the dose after every 2 – 4 weeks, this will take a few weeks/months. Eventually, when you are down to a tiny dose, cut up the tablets and just take one piece daily. I am coming off olanzapine and that is the stage I am at now. If you need it, you can get it in a fluid form so that you can take a micro dose. Also, there is a lot of of information about stopping olanzapine on the internet. Hope this helps.

I am scared to death. I have tried to stop using zyprexa and find all these withdrawal symptoms to be the case. I am so sorry my “Dr” put me on this stuff. I am ruined. My life is ruined and I can’t have a normal life now…I am trying to cut the pills into smaller doses…Why why why do Dr’s prescribe this poison? I wish I could sue them. My life is ruined…I know you won’t post this but I am going through withdrawal right now and don’t want to live like this…

OMG
I had the same symptom
I cold tureky seroxate after two years
And suddenly suffered of massive vertigo attack that i had to be admitted
Even i had diagnosed with vestibular neuritis after two monthi had another attack that kept me 24/7 rocking
How are you feeling now
I am putting back to seroxate so that i tapper it slowly still though i dont feel a difference in my symptoms

When I came off seroxat it was 6 weeks before I had withdrawal, I thought I would have come off this years ago if I had known it would be so easy, then it hit me all the withdrawal symptoms and 7.5 years on and I am still having a lot of these problems.

my name is diarmuid considine. i live in cork.ireland.
since 1976 i have been on a regime of drugs that would kill ten elephants.
since 1999 i have been mostly black depressed.a 1000 miles below hell.
my doctors keep giving me the same drugs-they are all the same.
at present i am suffering from all the side-effects pinpointed by so many people:foul stomach.lethargy.no libido,cant write although i am a really good poet,can barely tie my buttons.
my self-esteem is so low i can barely walk into a shop.
where once my house was like a bus station no one calls.i find it impossible to cook ,clean or maintain my house or my person. my whole body aches. i have become dyslexic-who was once an english teacher. i have been in situations where i have been violent-verbally and physically to people i know,love and respect. i never remember these.i get told about them afterwards.

i have been sectioned circa 40 times. drugs,drugs,drugs and more drugs.the psychiatrists and the doctors only know what the pharmaceutical reps tell um.recently i told dr.corcoran,the psychiatrist the following side-effects:sweating,loss of eyesight.nose dripping,pain in neck and shoulders,stomach bloated and severe wind pain,kidney problems,tingling on my hands and feet,bleeding through the anus,stress, nervousness,shakes and a tic in my face.
SHE LOOKED AT ME AND SAID ILL INCREASE YOUR EFFEXOR BY 3.5. NO EMPATHY,NO SYMPATHY.

it is horrible that they do not know what they are doing. what is a thousand times worse is thaT they do not CARE.

I WAS INVOLVED IN A CAR-CRASH IN 1073. severe anaesthetics and 6 months of morphine later i was discharged cold turkey.the man who performed HEROIC SURGERY on my ankle,kal condon.did not seem to realise i was up on top of my leg. he got his name in the medical history books. ive had to suffer his heroic butchery ever since.

the way i see things:the people who should care for us:the doctors, the psychiatrists,the social workers.the governments etc are only interested in saving their own skins and serving masters who allow them to be pipsqueaks.

I am so sorry for all the pain you have gone through Diarmuid. My daughter had a breakdown 2 yrs ago an d I am trying to help her get off Olanzapine and Venlafaxine padt year but her anger and random violent outbursts are hard to cope with. I am determined to keep trying other routes like counselling and b vits etc for anxiety. She hasnt a single friend as the bitches she had in her past couldnt bother to care so she is isolated with me her mother most of the time. We are ok sometimes but its heartbreaking. I feel psychiatric staff should give their drugs a try and see how they like the side effects.
Hope you can find some peace in your life…take care

Has anyone here withdrawn from Zyprexa successfully? I am off it for 5 months now (after 6 years of taking it) and i have been diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy.I am experiencing burning and numbness in my feet,and hands especially at night.I am struggling to understand if Zyprexa withdrawal could cause my neuropathy? I see no other reason why I am experiencing this…is anybody experiencing peripheral neuropathy from Zyprexa withdrawal as well? Please respond and please help,I am desperate!!! Many thanks

I have actually been off zyprexa for 6 months now so I figured I would share.

First off, to the person telling the story, I am sorry for everything that happened to you, I am glad you are doing better and I am sure you will continue to improve. However, I am wondering why you were put on the highest dose possible of zyprexa (20mg) for 9 years. Standard in the US is to start on 5mg, they even have 2.5mg doses. But anyway, I digress.

Aura, I have gotten on/off zyprexa twice. I was on for 4 years then got off for about 1.5 yrs. Then I got on for 15 months and I have been off 6 months now. I never had peripheral neuropathy, but interestingly enough, I looked it up, and I had my vitamins checked after. And I was low in magnesium, vitamin E, and thiamin (vitamin b1). I was experiencing fatigue and after getting on those vitamins I felt much better. So before you assume it is diabetes or some other neuropathy, it could not hurt getting your vitamins checked.

Also, for the other questions. I took standard 5 mg doses, and I never had any trouble tapering off Zyprexa. Now other medicines, I had much more trouble tapering off SSRI’s and Benzo’s to be honest lifetime wise. Those are extremely difficult to get off of, I am unsure why doctors are not more aware. Right now I do still take SSRI’s though, but I have gotton off them successfully in the past, just took a while.

Thanks for sharing your experience: to answer your question why I was plonked on top dose olanzapine/Zyprexa (20mg) from the get-go – I don’t really know, except that in 2001, I think no one thought about doses properly – other than very crude associations. The worse the behaviour/suicidality/self harm: the more drug you needed. Understanding that lower doses might be as effective in reducing difficult behaviour was a long way off the mainstream. I believed that as well – I thought that if I felt that bad, only a big dose would help. I’m not sure what current practice is here, in the UK? Maybe someone who has taken it more recently could answer that. And, your problems getting off the SSRIs et al and benzos being worse for you, confirms my belief that everyone reacts so differently. I had few difficulties going cold turkey from Effexor/venlafaxine in 2003 (extremely unwisely, and nothing I would do now, or ever recommend, but ignorance is bliss). A couple of weeks feeling grim. I hadn’t been on it all that long, (2 years) although was taking a big dose (450mg). My experience stands in stark contrast to many others – who have the most excruciating problems with venlafaxine. And I have a friend who took temazepam for 25 years, 20mg, then decided to stop. She had no physical symptoms at all – difficult for me to comprehend given the extreme withdrawal I went through when I stopped diazepam. I guess the wide spectrum of reactions in withdrawal is one of the huge hurdles in getting a withdrawal syndrome recognised?

I also have found magnesium helpful — in the form of magnesium baths though. Magnesium deficiency causes an increase in Substance P which leads to inflammation and possibly neuropathy.

Excerpt from the following linked post:
Epsom salt baths can be a well absorbed source of magnesium because skin absorption will bypass a problem of poor intestinal absorption of magnesium. Calcium tends to be preferentially absorbed by the intestines, especially when there is an imbalance in vitamin and hormone D levels and poor intestinal absorption of magnesium over time can easily lead to symptoms of magnesium deficiency. Symptoms of magnesium deficiency are usually labeled something else by the medical profession because the problem is not obvious on lab tests until it is quite severe because the body takes more magnesium from the bones as needed up until the point where osteoporosis is severe enough to cause a shortage of stored magnesium.

Soaking in a bathtub for twenty minutes that has one cup of Epsom salt to a half full bathtub, and one teaspoon of a cooking vinegar such as apple cider vinegar to balance the alkalinity of the Epsom salt, can be a cure for a bad mood as well as various achy muscle cramps if magnesium deficiency is an underlying problem. Negative symptoms can occur if you stay in the bath too long. Excess magnesium absorption can cause loose watery stools for an entire day, not just once. Falling asleep in the bath can also lead to more life threatening symptoms of a weak, and fluttery heart rate, or even lead to coma and/or death — so twenty minutes to forty minutes is probably safe for a deficient person while someone who isn’t deficient might notice a weak slowing heart rate sooner than the twenty minute average that a person deficient in magnesium might find only as calming and soothing to their mood and muscles. A person who was deficient but who then started taking the baths regularly might start noticing the weak heart rate sooner — get out of the tub then, even if its not been twenty minutes — shower and rinse time. Research on the therapeutic use of Epsom salt baths recommended one cup Epsom salt to the half full/full bath and use up to three to four times per week, but not daily.

/Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes./

I would like to contribute my experience with Olanzapine. I’ve been taking 2.5 mg at night along with Venlafaxine for a number of years. I voluntarily have reduced my dosage to half this and already am experiencing awful withdrawal symptoms – prickling
in the face, hands and feet, a terrible headache, irritability and anxiety of a degree I’ve never known! And this is only my third day . . .im tempted to cut it to 1.75 mg for a week or so to lessen the effects of withdrawal . . My doctor is not much use; he seems apathetic to whether I withdraw or not. thankfully I’ve lost a couple of kilos already even though I’m only a little overweight. Some of the comments have been really helpful and I’ll definitely look at megnesium supplement.

yes aura, i was on olanzapine for about 7 years and had those burning feet i could barely walk.i know you left that post two years ago but i feel i had to reply. my sore burning feet have now gone. i had so many withdrawals and lived in terror and fear and panic, all i wanted to do was die. thats what i felt like after i stopped the olazapine. it was the burning feet and a lot of other problems of the physical kind that made me stop taking those evil pills.
i have just finished a two year cut down and im only about 10 days free of the drugs. i did it so slow. i swapped from olanzapine to quetiapine as quetiapine work on less receptors. olanzapine work on 17 and quetiapine work on 7. so i had terrible with drawels all along after my switch.i only went on 100mg of quetiapine after 10m mg of olanzapine for a number of years then 5 mg. of olanzapine. the reason i went on such a low dose was because i did not want to get a lot of side effects and also just to helpn with the with drawel from olanzapine. it has been absolutely horrendous. they say that when you stop the drugs that the withdrawel agony is your ill ness coming back. i can assure you i never felt this bad when i was ill. coming of that quetiapine and olanzapine has been the harderst thing i have ever done in my life. the withdrawel is worse than any metal illness i ever had. but its all gone now. so i thought they said it was my illness coming back. they dont know what they are doing and they dont care either. the pharmaceutical companies give the doctors money for every scrip of that comapys drugs. so they are doing it for money. they have absolutely no idea of the evil and pain they are causeing. i remember my boy friends mother. she had alzeimers and she got put on quetiapine for it. and although it did seem to settle her down. she said to me one day. i have a fear in me and thats something i’v never had before. those were her words. ;and i can relate to that fear she is talking about. she is dead now. and im glad as she was suffering so much.i hope you managed to stay of the olanzapine and if you do get this post please drop me an email as i’d love to know how you are getting on. all the very best.grace?

Yes, unfortunately, I have peripheral neuropathy ‘in spades’ – which I think is certainly linked to olanzapine/Zyprexa – maybe aggravated by long term benzo use, in my case. Burning feet, ‘moving toes and painful feet’ (which is actually, amazingly, a recognised neurological condition if you google it). My feet and hands are worst affected – and specially at night. I guess a toxicologist might be able to explain why the far bit of our bodies are worst affected? Like a plant that starts withering at the tips of its branches or leaves? I don’t know. Tingling, burning, and shingles-like pain are incredibly debilitating to endure, day after day, night after night. So you have my deepest sympathy. I think we are guinea pigs really, in terms of observing and noting the process: no one knows yet if it will get better over time but all our experiences add up to evidence in the end. Sorry not to be able to say it’ll definitely get better, but I can’t, although I have got much better at coping with it. Very best wishes in your battle – you’re not alone.

Dear Aura,
I also took Zyprexa for 6 years and it has been 5 months since my last dose. Oh man, the withdrawal was pure unadulterated hell for me. I was incredibly ill for 3 months and during these last two months my condition is still noticeably improving. Don’t get me wrong, I am still moderately sick but much better than I was at first. I don’t know what peripheral neuropathy is but I would not be surprised at all if it is Zyprexa that caused your problem. Zyprexa causes an extraordinary amount of different health problems. I may never completely recover from having taken Zyprexa. This horrible experience has caused me to lose faith in the medical profession. The makers of Zyprexa have all ready been successfully sued for over a billion dollars because of this bad drug. They know it is a bad drug yet they still don’t take it off the market because they are making a lot of money. Instead, they change the name and hide it other drugs such as Symbyax.

I just got off zyprexa and am experiencing the burning nerve pain in chest and back spine hand and feet I had been on 2.5 of zyprexa for 10 years. I had gotten the fatty liver high trygliceriders weight gain and the final thing was pre diabetes. I was not having any burning nerve pain when I got on it. I was given it for off label anxiety. The anxiety would have been better to live with than this nerve pain

Olanzapine is the most dangerous legal drug I know about. It nearly killed me and I wasn’t on it for that long. I felt like a zombie. I insisted on getting off of it and yes — that was awful. It was hell. I thought it would never end. I was frequently suicidal and needed a lot of support to get through it. BUT — I DID!!!! And I am so glad I pushed through. I did taper. I also had a lot of systems set up — a group chat where any contact from me whatsoever would trigger action, even if all I could do was text one letter. Sometimes that was all I could do, I was so overwhelmed with depression — but thankfully my people were here for me and took it seriously and recognized I HAD to have 24/7 support to get through. Everyone is different, but I ended up on an SSRI, ironically also on Adderall for a while (now on a variation minus the amphetamine, just dextro, in a small dose), and lorazepam which is a GODSEND. I know it’s heavily controlled but it’s cheap and worked extremely well for me in small doses. As my therapy, self-love, meditation practice have matured, I’m now able to rely more on herbal approaches (I take a tincture called Anxiety Ally from wooden spoon and use the scent of vetiver) and less on the pharma. No CBD though I hear it helps; while on Olanzapine I was taking THC whenever I could get it just to feel a tiny bit more alive, so I like being able to stay away from pot entirely now.

Be encouraged. It is hard — coming off this drug is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But if you can remind yourself that it is temporary and teach your brain not to react, that may help. It is possible and you will succeed.

I responded about a year ago to someone who was experiencing withdrawal symptoms
from psychotropic drugs. This lady was suffering from a variety of negative symptoms similar to the ones mentioned above. I mentioned to her that my oldest sister was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had been on psychotropic prescription drugs over a ten year period. She came to live with me when she was on the verge of her fourth nervous breakdown. Physically and mentally, she was a mess. Fortunately for us, I was in contact with a woman who had the
knowledge to help her. There is a book called ‘Mental and Elemental Nutrients,’ written by Dr. Carl Pheiffer. I strongly urge anyone who is having withdrawal problems to get this book. The solution is megavitamin therapy with high doses of niacin and vitamin C. It took one year to cure (completely cure) my sister. She has been off all pharmaceutical drugs for over thirty years and today (at the age of 75) she still works 28 hours a week. Time has proved there is a solution to this problem.

I know to well the same symptoms in Sally’s story. I’ve met personally the generations that have been in mental treatment in Norway. Doctor’s should be ashamed of themselves as they prefer antipsychotics like Olanzapine over good food, sleep, and therapeutic talks. Long term use of medications like Olanzapine or whatnot should be followed with the doctor prescribing being on the same dose. OK.. seems like a good idea to treat people with let’s say Risperdone injections? Try it yourself doctors! Really… for a couple of weeks.. months.. years… and come back and tell me your wife/husband is happy about it!
I have a friend who is Chemist.. we had a good walk in the Botanical garden in Oslo, Norway and I had a chance to talk to him for hours. You know what he told me? The Chemists of THIS generation can create medications WITHOUT any side effects AT ALL. But.. and there is a BUT: They are NOT allowed to do it. And you know why? Because.. The company’s that create and have monopolized the market are to powerful! They have to much money.. and Doctors and health personnel have a “religious” belief that the medication they are handing out is “The answer” to everything! I have seen things in mental health treatment in Norway that would make Guantanamo prisoners shit their pants! It’s totally inhuman treatment of other people! Here police can come pick you up at night and drive you off to mental hospitals.. or doctors “tutor” your way in with the most deceiving letters you can imagine.. and “whoop”… your on a “observation” paragraph and totally in the “claws”/control of a team of doctors who want to help you. People who don’t know you.. who have a system where they write journals and observe you while on medication and a regime where you can end up in belt beds if you protest. Who are these people? Norway is so “freedom of speech” and all that safe and rich country I can only imagine how it’s like in less fortunate places… And you know what? It’s even “Free health care” here… I’ve met people in my life who have costed 1 million dollars + even up to 5 million dollars to have kept in mental hospitals.. They are just shadows of themselves.. Hey.. why not give people a good life? Good food? What is this “mumbo jumbo” Psychiatric stuff really about? Like 50% of the planet and maybe more have “mental health problems” Why not start putting life into people’s life instead of poison? Some good words? A vacation? Meaning and purpose in life. I have met people in my life with more life experience than any newly educated doctor when it comes to mental health.. people who can pin that diagnose on ANYONE in 2 seconds.. because its a religion… You know what? a Apple a day keeps the doctor away! Maybe you should bring in some Apple’s or Microsoft into the “curing” of people.. Make people read up on what your feeding down their system doctors! And please… subscribe “Nice medications” like a good word… A pep talk. Be human. You know… I could be YOUR family your treating.. would YOU like to see your kid poisoned by medication doctor? Or are you trying to pay down that student loan your education ran you up pushing poison for the BIG company’s? I wish I could see a revolution in mental health care.. Subscribing a plane ticket to somewhere beautiful instead of poison! Like… even in the Soviet Union people who lived in Siberia would get a summer holiday somewhere sunny! Grow up!
To Sally I wanna say: Thank you for sharing your story! I believe in you and I think its great to find this information online and that you other guys who read this don’t scoff at my post here because I just typed in this now to have my say!

Kind regards

Have a great 2015 everybody and please wake up tomorrow smiling because life is to short to waste on negativity!

Ok so first off Sally I appreciate reading your story more than you’ll know and I hope things continue to get better for you. Long story short today is my one year being off zyprexa. After last night barely sleeping and having strange things happen to me this story has given me some more hope to continue my battle. I find myself today looking on the Internet because the doctors seem to be clueless. My story began about ten years ago I was put on zyprexa, for 9 years I was on and off it as I struggled to break free of its chains. For the most part I was on 15 mg but tapered myself down to a fraction of a 2.5 pill. Yet after a year iam still expirenceing wierd symptoms but struggle with coordination and sleeping the most. I will break out in hive and itch like crazy until i take benadryl. This usually happens when my body decides to have what I describe as hot flashes. I’ve been suffering from such bad headaches for so long along with other symptoms the doctors think iam crazy so I’ve pretty much just been suffering in silence. Between the headaches, hives, random itching, hot and cold, blurred vision, sleep disturbance and general fatigue I feel beat down. I really hope it continues to get better as some days I struggle to even perform my job.

Just wanted to send out a massive thanks to sally for telling her story.
I was prescribed this nasty crap a couple of months ago (against my will) and now I’m going to get off it and stay off.
Seems the doctor wanted to punish me horribly for some reason.
cheers mate, I hope you can find some happiness knowing that you’ve saved at least one person from the same fate. You are a hero.

Hello, I just wanted to say that, I too, believe Sally”s story. Drugs that affect the CNS like antipychotics and benzodiazepines can literally ruin a person’s health.

I was prescribed benzos and APs for over 12 years. I became ill with fibromyalgia, hypertension, tachycardia, peripheral neuropathy,”and a host of other symptoms.

Seven months ago, my doctor decided to cut me off valium cold turkey. What I have gone through since then is nothing but torment to the soul and body. And guess what another doctor recently prescribed to help me get through the withdrawal? You got it. Zyprexa.

I just want to thank you for this site and all the posts. It has really helped me see I am not crazy and I need to taper off the Zyprexa quick. I don’t ever want to see another doctor as long as I live. If all they can offer is poisons, I think I will just say No Thanks.

Susan, did you withdraw successfully? Can you share your story? I have had trouble quitting before. My third attempt has been recently, where I have cut from 5 to 2.5. I have been at 2.5 for over two weeks. I want this stuff out of my system so badly. I was thinking of splitting one dose each week, then start splitting again. I need reassurance….I get horrible anxiety everytime I decrease.

I was on olanzapine for 16 days only , doctor gave it to me because I didnt eat well , I quit just like that , now it’s day 5 and still it’s auwful , My heart beats too fast , temperature goes up and I feel depressed , stomach hurts , can’t sleep 1 hour without something extra , my head hurts a lot , yesterday I smoked a little cannabis , it made my mouth dry but helped a lot with my heart arythmia , today I will smoke again because that’s the only thing I trust now because I consider God made it for us that’s why we have thc receptors in our body . Good thing I quit this evil olanzapine in time . My organism is very strong because i breastfed until I was 4 or 5 , and I can’t imagine how terrible is for people with weaker immune systems . Terrible drug

all the very best blertan. keep going your doing so well not many people get of those evil medications. it shouldnt take to long to get better after 16 days but i know that within 2 weeks of taking those tablets they say the brain shrinks. i was on them for about 7 years and another 2 on quetapine, all the best.

I too am right in the middle NOW of olanzapine withdrawal. I have reduced myself from 5mg right down to half a 2.5mg tablet. I am suffering horrifically and this is the hardest challenge of my life. I do not blame the doctors and psychiatric system-I am not out to lay blame, but from my experience my biggest message to EVERYONE is do not take psychiatric medications, sort out your emotional health with the support and love of friends and family, look after your health naturally with good food, sleep and exercise, do not think that a doctor can ‘fix’ you when life becomes hard, because you end up becoming a vulnerable victim of what did not need to happen in the first place.

Davina (and everyone above), I have been researching this topic non-stop for months for my mother (currently 69 y/o). I am desperately seeking help for her. She was on temazepam (benzo) for 20+ years and tapered/detoxed from it about 3 years ago. At the time we didn’t understand the magnitude of these drugs and their withdrawal impact and side effects. Too many to name. But, while tapering (…maybe it was right after being completely off), she went into the hospital for what appeared to be a breakdown. She was there a week and they quickly prescribed her 90mgs of Cymbalta, 5mgs of Zyprexa, and 100mgs of trazodone and sent her on her way. She has never been the same. Depressed, zoned out, major cognitive issues, obsessive thoughts, extreme anxiety, memory problems etc. After doing some research on Zyprexa and its side effects we decided to taper her from this medication first. Called her pdoc – he said cut by 50%. She is now at 2.5mgs for a month as of next Tuesday. Her anxiety is through the roof, very depressed and her whole body just shakes. Davina, I see your comment above was almost a year ago…after an extreme 50% cut, how are you feeling? Any feedback would be so helpful!!

It is odd that I have found this site. My son suffers from schitzo-affective disorder. He has been placed on 10 mg of olazapine daily. He hates the drug I believe he is trying to come off it, he is moody, tired, looks terrible, thought he had a flu.He has gained about 5kgs in 12 months. Prior to this we have just let him be. He was self medicating with marijuana I believe he still uses the marijuana as well as the olazapine. He has suffered from delusional beliefs for years he can get very angry (not dangerously so) along with extreme anxiety and isolation issues. He is 35 years old. I am very interested in the vitamin solution.

Hi Jenny, maybe he could also try gluten free. Do some reading on the effects of gluten on the brain, mental health and nervous system. Some people need to be GF and Dairy Free for full benefit. His symptoms – isolation, anxiety, tired, moody, look bad, sounds like he could be gluten intolerant or celiac to me.

I’m not sure exactly how long I was on olanzapine but it was for many years possibly age 19 or 20, I’m now 2 weeks 2 days into withdrawal. I was on a very large dose at times fluctuating around 15mg, 10mg, 5mg. I also took large amounts of olanzapine to escape my reality, even though it made me feel awful. I went through phases of overwhelming fear and anxiety so would I take extra olanzapine constantly to try and combat this. I weighed about 17 stone at one point. I’m now 35 and for the first time I feel mentally well. I dropped down to 5mg and then stopped. My withdrawal symptoms are terrible. I’m starting to get better than I was initially. I’m sweating less now and my temperature is getting better. My legs developed a terrible twitching but this has improved. My skin on my face was prickly and itchy. I still have nausea and really bad insomnia. I have also recently developed severe hypercausis. I can’t tolerate human voices and general sounds are unpleasant. Also since stopping I have experienced disassociation on occasions. I’m also very irritable. I was first diagnosed at 17 with bipolar. Then it was changed to schizoaffective disorder. At one point my psychiatrist said I could choose my diagnosis between bipolar or schizoaffective or whatever I felt was accurate. My last psychiatric appointment I was then diagnosed as unstable mood disorder. I was using cannabis towards the end of my olanzapine, as it wasn’t detrimental to my mental health as it once was. But I now cannot tolerate it because I experience silent migraines that cause me to feel intense pain and a really rapid heart rate. I was admitted to hospital for this once.The pain is like being skinned alive and has also felt like my head was being hit against a wall.

I wonder if anyone could help please… I am a 33 woman and I took Zypexa for 6 years due to very mistaken and stupid diagnosis (10mg`s for 2 years and 5mg for 4 years) and Cypralex for first 3 years.
I quit Cypralex 3 years ago while on Zyprexa and quit Zyprexa 11 months ago after a 3 months taper.I am absolutely,100% drug free.I am in full withdrawal/discontinuation syndrome and I have experienced a lot of debilitating sypmtoms,severe insomnia,severe muscular pain throughout the body,uncontrolled rage,tremors,severe headaches,stiff/pain in my neck and shoulders,severe stomach pain,vulvodynia,PMS,IBS.. over 80 symptoms in total… I`ve changed my diet completely,I becomed a vegan (no meats,no eggs,milk or gluten),I eat very very clean,I cook my own meals at home and stay away from any processed foods,conservants or additives.I don`t take any painkillers,absolutely no pills at all.I manage my pain with ginger tea and a arnica based organic solution.I don`t drink coffee,alcohool… I don`t smoke.
I try to live a very healthy,clean live and exercise (take gentle walks in the park).The diet change paid off and the symtomps are starting to dissapear and I am starting to have good and lasting windows.My sleep has improved a little but not so much… my night sleep depends of how my day was… if I had a stress free day and everything was fine I am sleeping 4-6 hrs… if my day was not a good one or I have something relatively important to do the next day I might sleep from 5-6 am to 11 am or not sleep at all until 9-10am!
Overall I am doing fine if I stay away from cold,bad postures and stress and take care of what I eat.I have very low stress tolerance and any little arguement,contradiction or event in my life brings a very bad wave of symptomps,the insomnia returns in full swing,the muscular and head pain returns,convulsion/ tremors as well and of course the depression as a result of lack of hope.Suddenly I have the feeling that I never healed at all because the symptoms are exactly as bad and severe as when I quit Zyprexa.I am very fragile and I wonder if I will ever heal completely and have 0 symptoms exactly like the normal person I was before drugs.
11 months of endurance and pain have passed and I really want my old life and body back… no pains,no restrictions (from cold air,stress or bad postures).
If anyone has COMPLETELY healed from Zyprexa and be 100% free of any psihotropic drugs please e-mail me and let me know how you`re doing,how long it took you to be normal and live a normal live again.If your stress tollerance is normal,if you don`t have any pains no matter the climate condition,if you`re sleeping well no matter how your day was,If you can eat or drink anything and don`t have any symptoms.PLEASE E-MAIL ME AT JOHNYDUMI@ICLOUD.COM
Many many thanks and hang in there!

I’m posting on behalf of my boyfriend, as I watch him experience the aweful side effects and withdrawal effects of olanzapine.
I haven’t been able to find any threads which lists the severity of what he is experiencing. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

He was placed on olanzapine 8 months ago on release from the mental health Ward (he was admitted for suicidal ideation). The olanzapine was prescribed as a mood stabiliser and for sleep while the right “cocktail” was found. It has been trial and error for months before the right medications were prescribed.

He now takes 60mg tranylcypromine (parnate) which is highly effective and comes with no side effects, 30mg dexadrine for adhd, 3 doses of 0.25mg xanax for anxiety and restless legs, and 3 doses of 40mg propranalol for high blood pressure/migraines/physical symptoms of anxiety.

Now I understand how many may attribute his side effects to the list of medications he is on, however his side effects from olanzapine were in place before those medications were given.

The effects he experienced worsened over several months :
No longer aided in sleep at all
SEVERE Irritability leading to verbal aggression (he is genuinely the most polite and gentle person I had ever met)
Severe and sudden mood swings
The weight gain continued to max 20kg and no success in weight loss
He was able to improve his diet and intense desire to binge at night.

On advice from his psychiatrist he dropped from 10mg to 5mg without any warning of side effects.

Initial withdrawal 10mg-5mg
Severe Irritability – he became enraged and scarily focused on one topic that he argued about for 15 hours.
He proceeded to smoke some marijuana to assist in how he felt.
The following day he experienced a psychotic episode.
– verbal aggression never witnessed before
– severe irrationality
– inability to process any kind or rational words said to him.
– he stabbed himself in the stomach with a knife.
– he remembers nothing of the nearly 72 hours leading up to being in the ambulance.

Withdrawal 5mg-2.5mg
– 1 day of strong Irritability
– 2 days of depression

Withdrawal 2.5mg – 0mg
– Irritability
– depression
(these occurred the same number of days following every reduction in dose)

3/4 weeks following. 0mg
– severely angry psychotic episodes in which no rationality can alter
– frequent strong depressive episodes
– water retention – has gained more weight which appears to be water weight.
– incredibly severe uti resistant to multiple drugs which may be leading to hospitalisation (still waiting, he has has it for 2 weeks)
– severely weakened immune system
– barely passing urine at all regardless of liquid intake
– bouts of depersonalisation and confusion (feels very disconnected and unable to remember where his location/age/family member living status etc)
– muscle twitching in the face he is unaware of
– trouble reading (squinting / closing one eye to read) – 20/20 vision prior.
– occasional lazy eye on one side
– he has established an inability to focus on someone else while they speak without interrupting to add his input, goes off tangent easily, speaks for hours on one topic regardless of repetitive information and requests to stop.

Can anyone help?! His symptoms appear to be worsening and they WERE NOT present prior to olanzapine 8 months ago. This drug is evil. The psychiatrist tried to put him back on it to assist with some sudden insomnia due to the uti medication (medication ceased, insomnia passing). Olanzapine SHOULD NOT be a first line of treatment for short term insomnia, especially since he had just withdrawn to 0mg…

The irrational and irritative psychotic episodes he is experiencing are becoming more frequent. He describes it as a mean part of him taking over, and he cannot stop it nor prevent it once started. He is unaware of all the aggressive and cruel things he says in this state. It lasts from several hours to a full day. The adhd type symptoms were not as severe prior to olanzapine.

These side effects are seriously concerning due to the severity. Will they reduce with time? He refuses hospitalisation. I am afraid he will enter a psychotic state and stab himself again.

Please feel free to contact me via the following email address if any assistance or advice is out there. I’m VERY concerned. I am his main source of care and the other people in his life are unaware / ignorant (I don’t use that word lightly, trust me, it’s appropriate) of his state / unable to fully comprehend nor have a desire to due.

So sad to hear about your boyfriends story. I am experiencing almost the similar thing And i was wondering how your boyfriends progress on coming of the olanzapine is and if he is still experiencing the withdrawal symptoms

Currently I am on a dosage of 4.1 mg and I am experiencing severe stomach pain insomnia severe anxiety and I am feeling like a zombie all day long

I have tried to come of the drug 6 times but unsuccessful maybe because I did it to fast. This time I will do it on a slower pace. Maybe we are talking months or years. This drug has completely ruined my life. It was given to me because of anxiety. It is very hard coming of this drug

I hope you can answer back because I desperately need to someone who has been there and because I need hope

Does anyone yell after taking this drug? I had insomnia and my doc gave me Mirtazapine and Olanzapine which completely ruined my life. I have very bad mirningr agitation and yelled hysterically from morning till noon. Can someone share your experience?

yes i can understand and i’v been the same i think its pure frustration and im always screaming and i worry what my neighbours think, i just could not stop crying and sometimes its screaming as thats the amount of pain im in.

I’m keeping brief. Zyprexa withdrawal was the worst thing I ever went through. I was tapered off tags every two weeks. I had very high anxiety, restlessness, I paced day and night because I couldn’t sit in one place more than few minutes, I sweated alot, I felt nervous, night time was the worst, minutes after falling asleep my lungs stopped and I couldn’t breath, not breathing in my sleep caused panic attacks and insomnia. Four days after the last zyprexa I took the above symptoms were so severe I had to go to the ER at 5am. I was checked in to the hospital for two weeks. I had a whole another set of problems with the doctor there the way he tried to medicate me. I’m not going to mention the problems I had with their doctor in this forum. But I couldn’t have went through the worst of the withdrawal at home it was that bad that I needed to be in the hospital. After about two and half weeks after the last zyprexa I been able to sleep all night without my lungs stopping with the help of a sleeping pill. It was so horrific that even almost three weeks after I been able to sleep without my lungs stopping I still get a little nervous around bedtime, but it’s getting better each night as I get more confident that I’m going to be ok now. Five weeks after the last zyprexa I’m starting to feel normal and myself again.

I was on olanzapine from 2002 to 2005 on different doses. No psychiatrist ever thought of tapering the drug. After being sectioned in Hospital and feeling numb I was told I would need the drug to be increased, I was already on 20mg. I quit the drug in 2006 a few months after being on the drug and coming out of hospital. I felt so weak, I could not walk, I was shivering, felt sick, and memory a mess and really frightened. I decided to go to a clinic abroad. After I told them that I had been given olanzapine, they were shocked. This apparently is one of the worst drugs so they told me. They diagnosed me with parkinsons and put me on abilify but I am now coming off it. It is proving the most difficult thing in the world but I will get through it. I think the drugs they gave me on section finished me off anyway so the abilify was a stupid decision- they just changed one drug for another really. I am not sure if the damage I am suffering is damage from the olanzapine, old damage or the abilify.
Take care of yourselves

Well…Samatha’s transition from Zyprexa to Abilify mimics mine. I was on Zyprexa (I think mostly at 5 mg) for about 10 years (in my mid 30’s to 40’s) then switched by my (former) doc to Abilify and stayed on that at 3.75 mg for another 10 years. That until I realized that I was dying and that the drug I was on may have been the reason.
Very long story short and 30 years later, I regrettably signed into a state psychiatric hospital, was given starter drugs of Stelazine and Thorazine, then because I had a college degree at that point, was ‘promoted’ to the state university hospital across the street (the “good” one). For 4 and 1/2 months, I was dosed with Haldol and then Navane, until I signed out, still a voluntary patient. My life had very much changed for the worse, I was a freshly minted “mental patient” in a state of extreme stress and trauma. Eventually, like all the other “chemically imbalanced” people, I accepted my fate and took my meds, attained a MS degree in Earth Science and kept trying to work, have relationships, and get on with what was a “normal life,” that has been actually a series of trial and errors from job to job and relationship to relationship, doped up on Zyprexa, then Abilify and other drugs (antidepressants, sleep meds) given to moderate the effects of the neuroleptics in actuality (they are all poisons).
I’m off my last drug, Abilify for 5 weeks now having titrated off commencing last February 2015 after CT that made me dedicated to researching the incredible horrors of these drugs, going back up to 1 mg, staying there for about 2 months and much doctor and clinic advice, and now off. I have spent much of my mother and grandparents inheritance trying to feel better and get on with life. I’m 56 and have several of the physical and “psychological” maladies caused by these drugs. My withdrawal process was horrendous and filled with periods of insomnia, mania sometimes bordering on psychosis, but at least according to my current therapist, who indeed is connected to the system that disabled me, I am not exhibiting “symptoms,” of an “illness,” currently. My “working diagnosis” is PTSD from my “life history.” People have told me that had I not maintained relatively good physical health, I would be even worse off then now.
I have seen and been seen by very well known psychiatrists, been to clinics, here in the US during my withdrawal who were in my opinion of little help to me, accept knowledge that I have instituted: a Paleo Diet to clean up my gut, consider holistic mediation, yoga and other healthy alternatives sound advice.
I have one friend now (a former “hospital” patient like me who can understand more about our collective situations), my possessions, and a roof over my head. I’m happy to contribute to Dr. Healy’s site.

I’m just starting to come off zyprexa (down to 10mg from 12.5mg, on for about 6-12 months) and have a constant headache, feeling detached, still sleeping but not as good as before. I have gained 30-40 lbs since starting, feeling like a zombie all day. I just hope I can get through the withdrawal and come out of it like my old drug free self. For years I was on Lexapro and nothing else and slept fine only this last time when I had really bad insomnia did the dr. decide to put me on Zyprexa, it was the only thing that made me sleep.

For six years I took Symbyax wich is a Zyprexa/Prozac combination pill. This drug worked well for a couple of months. Then things began to change. I started having terrible seizures. This went on for years as I did not know what was causing the seizures. After a trip to the hospital in an ambulance because of a seizure. The emergency room doc told me that it was probably the Zyprexa causing my seizures and memory problems. I then tapered off the meds over a six month period. I was making eight little piles of powder out of each pill when I quit completely. Then the withdrawal set in. Now it is has been a couple of months since stopping and I am experiencing the real hell that only Zyprexa can give. I am still suffering and do not know how much longer I can take this. I will give it my best shot and hope this misery caused by my doctor and the poisons he pushes will soon come to an end. Best wishes.

My name is Cengiz and I am writing from Denmark and I have read all of your stories And i was wondering how your progress on coming of the olanzapine is and if you are still experiencing the withdrawal symptoms

I too am trying to get of the zyprexa I have been taking it for 11 months now Currently I am on a dosage of 5 mg. I started with 5 mg but upped my dose to 15 mg but that was only for 3 months. Now I’m down to 5 mg again. Right now I don’t know if I am experiencing withdrawal symptoms. I freeze a lot, fever like symptoms, insomnia, stomach cramps etc etc

I am so afraid of this medication because I know it is a dangerous drug. I am afraid that It has caused brain damage.

I know that you are not a doctors but it is nice to speak with someone who has tried the hell themselves

I have tried to come of the drug 6 times but unsuccessful maybe because I did it to fast. This time I will do it on a slower pace. Maybe we are talking months

I hope someone can answer back because I desperately need to someone who has been there themselves

Hello Cengiz,
It takes time to recover from the devastating effects that Zyprexa causes. I took it for 6 years. I tapered off slowly after trying cold turkey unsuccessfully, twice. It was a very difficult thing to do considering how bad I felt. However, it can be done! Know that your misery will end or greatly subside given time away from the drug. You must stay strong and don’t give up hope that things will get better because they eventually will.
One more thing, they say that during a war there are no atheists in foxholes. I am hear to tell you that there are no atheists during Zyprexa withdrawal either. Its a battle you have to win. Do not give up in your quest to become drug free.

H Lisa,
I hope by now you have successfully quit zyprexa. I am sorry it took so long for me to respond. I know it is pure hell quitting a designed poison like zyprexa. It can be done and unfortunately sometimes it leaves permanent scars. It has been years for me Lisa and I am still feeling the ill effects from quitting zyprexa. I am not referring to rebound illness but specific damage caused to me for having taken that so called medicine. The makers of zyprexa should be lined up and shot. Twice! In the head!. No joke.

Hi Ed….Last year when I wrote you, I was taking 2.5 mg every other day. As of today, I am on .625 (1/8 of a 5 mg tablet) every other day.
I know I have done this very slowly but in 2014, I quit it cold turkey and became very ill. I had to go back on it and stabilize but this next time, do a very slow taper. I stay at a dose 1-3 months before dropping again.
To tell the truth, I might could stop it now as my dose is so low but I’m going to go to every 3rd day before attempting to jump off. I cannot cut my pills any smaller.
I seem to be doing very well. I am sleeping good and feeling good. My hardest part was going under 2.5 mgs. I hope the worst is behind me.
I hope you are doing well, too. Hopefully, we are in the home stretch and never have to take this powerful, potent medication ever again.

I have also suffered brain damage from all the drugs, when I was on 300 mg of quetiapine the psychiatrists thought this wasn’t enough so when in hospital they upped my dose to 600mg, and added more rubbish. Anyway the brutality has affected my life, the experience was pure punishment, that was their intention, I was not a criminal i was just a naive 20-something year old. When I tell people, there are some who say ‘oh no but you were unwell, im sure you needed them.,’ which is why i prefer to keep it to myself. I was also on 10mg of olanzapine, and threatened that I would be sectioned if I did not take it so I had no choice. If you decide to come off the olanzapine do you carefully.

It is horrifying to read all these stories on this site. I am tapering really really slowly even though I am on 4.3 mg I am afraid of the withdrawal symptoms. To help myself I am beginning to take all sorts of vitamins. Hoping that it can help a bit

Hi everyone who has posted their experiences here – I can identify acutely with all you’ve all been going through – from the symptoms while taking Zyprexa/olanzapine – to all the horrific withdrawal stuff – and the fact that some people, like me, got hit with acute withdrawal weeks after stopping. (This for me was almost the worst aspect – not just because I had the most almighty shock, it was SO unexpected – but because no doctor would believe in a delayed reaction. All I ever heard was -the drug has been gone from your body for months, therefore whatever’s causing all this cannot be down to olanzapine. And so on. Took me ages to work out that maybe the body/brain adapts to the stuff quite slowly and the delayed withdrawal I experienced was my brain trying to readjust ….a very basic physiological principle: ‘homeostasis’ which no medic seems to have heard of. It’s very well described though by Richard Bentall in ‘Doctoring the Mind’.

But, there’s understanding the process, and then coping with intolerable physical symptoms and the aggression and anger that are part of it – that is beyond tough.

I’m debating whether there is any mileage in finding a way of sharing/supporting all of us? Or if sites like Surviving Antidepressants are doing it very well already? Although my story concerns an antipsychotic, there is a massive overlap in withdrawal symptoms between all the psychotropics. As you will gather, I’m not great at keeping track of new comments, which isn’t to say that I’m not interested – far from it. I would love to find a way of reducing the acute isolation I experienced. I’m hoping to get an update to my story sorted in the next few weeks but in the meantime – thanks again for all the comments and – hang on in there.

I was hospitalized last winter with severe major depressive disorder. I was on so many anti-depressants and benzos and stimulants. I had something to wake me up, keep me going, calm me down and help me sleep. My body could not sustain this. I admitted myself voluntarily to the hospital due to the deep depression. They took me off all meds except one with no tapering. I went into extreme withdrawals. This induced a pyschotic episode for which they gave me — you guessed it — zyprexa. This medicine did bring me out of the pyschotic state. I started at 10 mg and after two months of stabiliztion my doc said to drop to 5 mg. Then he said after a week or so of that to stop it completely. That did not go well. I experienced extreme anxiety, uncontrollable crying and sadness. I went back on 2.5 mg for a week or so, then cut it to 1.25 mg for another week. Now I have been off of it for about a week and am still having horrifying dreams, extreme anxiety and sadness, and feel suicidal. My doc prescribed me klonopin to help with the anxiety but nothing for the sadness and depression. I wonder how long this will go on. I have also had itching. I am amazed at the fortitude of those on this forum who took higher doses than I have for longer periods of time who are sticking with staying off zyprexa. I hope that things get better for everyone, including myself. I will admit this drug pulled me out of an extreme state of psychosis, but it caused my blood sugars to go sky high and I have diabetes. They were giving me shots of insulin which I have never had to have, and doubled my diabetes medications. My blood pressure was also really high on zyprexa and they started me on blood pressure medication. It seems my body systems are all screwed up, the least of which is my BRAIN. Zyprexa is some scary stuff. Last resort, definitely. I hoped to see more success stories of people withdrawing without lasting symptoms. I am a little scared now. But maybe since I was on it only about three months total the effects won’t long so long. I am walking every day trying to get the natural endorphins working in my brain. But the anxiety is so terrible. I have pictured several suicide scenarios which scares me also. I refuse to voluntarily go to the hosptial again because who knows what drug or drugs they would put me on. Thanks for listening.

hi, i understand how you feel with the withdrawal. I have been on 20mg olanzapine for psychosis for the past 5 years and my psychiatrist told me to stop completely as im doing so well. I have been moody, had insomnia, fatigue and headaches. I am not taking that shit prescription again dont know why i really needed it for all this time! mentally im doing fine and Ive put on 7 stone in the past 5 years!! which is also getting me down. Im sure these so called psychiatrists havent got a clue. I feel ive been doped up for the last 5 years and wasted my life!!

Finally a page where i can find solace! I’ve been on olanzapine for 11 months, went from 15mg to 10 to 5 then 2.5 for the last 5 months It’s been less than a week going to 0mg and im experiencing not being hungry,headaches and tooth aches and sweating aswell as an increase of thirst I havent had tremors or anything apart from tingling in the hands especially the right one as i sleep on it. I am hoping to get back to my old self but don’t know how long these symptoms will last and am afraid to tell my doctor incase she puts me back on it.I was told when i was on the 2.5mg in November 2015 i could get off itbut was too scared that i would revert backwards so i stayed on it longer. It’s now been a bit of a challenge sleeping at night and eating I was only 45kg when i was put on it and am now 71kgs i was told i could eat whatever i liked in hospital and only after i got out at 4 days the docs told me about the risk of diabetes! I was appauled with how i was treated prior with some peopke including police assuming my psychosis was from using the drug ice which i never used. However im willing to look past all that and just focus on getting better.Has anyone else had these symptoms?? Feel free to email me on alesiaf4@gmail.com

I’ve been on Olanzapine 20mg and citalopram 15mg for over a decade. I’m now over 40. All this time, I’ve been in a dazed bubble, its not ideal. Taken me long enough to wake up. I decided to go cold turkey 6 days ago, I’m feeling really ill right now, and its how and why I found this page…I’m cold/shivering, then sweating, stomach cramp, feeling sick, faint…is this just the start of my symptoms? I refuse to ever put this junk in my system ever again….also, weight gain, I’ve double in size since I started putting this shit in my system, I know its taken a very long time to wake up, but right now I just feel angry and quite ill (more physical than mental) although, I have had one bout of screaming in my head and a hallucination….*sigh & distraught* but well enough to think of how this might effect my loved ones and not me if it becomes too much.

I guess I was quite angry when I posted my original post. Thank you to the moderators for allowing it to be posted.
3 days have passed since that post, and I just feel ill. I’m sensitive by nature but seldom cry…I’ve never cried so much that last few days…the stomach cramp hurts but my head being so fuzzy and, I’m not sure how to articulate it, but, its absolutely horrible. I have had vivid dreams too, just really all the things I have read have applied to me too. I will say, I have had no thoughts of suicide, and as ill as I am, I really do want to ride this out. It does seem though that there is no kind of answer for how long this pain will last, I have read that people have gone back to the drug because of horrific withdrawal symptoms…right now…I’m refusing that.
For all the other posts that are trying to come off this drug, hang in there, I’m sure there is light at the end of the tunnel for us all. I pray you have support too xx
(I personally can’t get a doctors appointment, I have tried 4 times, I have been given the advice that the new diary for the surgery will open on the 1st) there are other professional options for me…I just haven’t exercised a hospital for example as of yet. This is without a doubt the worst I have felt since being born.

Thanks to everyone who has posted their experience of coming off olanzapine. I’m really pleased that finding this site has been helpful. I wish so much I could give definitive answers as to how long the appalling symptoms last but one of the confounding factors seems to be that there is no clear time-scale. I would stress. from my experience, that when symptoms become completely intolerable then there is no real alternative but to pump some back in, let things settle and then start again – much, much more slowly. If you remember, it took me nearly 18 months, dropping by 2.5 mg with substantial waits between the tapering steps. I understand the urgent desire just to get off the stuff – I’d had several attempts, prior to the successful one, which were far too quick – plus a couple of ‘cold turkey’ attempts. I, too, desperately wanted my life back – but the result was that I’d never in my life felt so ill. Indescribably ill. I had to learn to be patient with the final attempt and go really slow. The Rxisk withdrawal guide is very good – I wish it had been around when I began the final taper. It seems to be basically the same process for any psychotropic. I’m really hoping that Rxisk’s Complex Withdrawal site will begin to collect information for all of us who have ongoing problems. I guess we need to get a feel for what is actually going on in our bodies both during the withdrawal and afterwards. Everyone is incredibly brave. But don’t despair if you have to start again.

Forgot to add – I merrily threw all the olanzapine away each time I tried getting off it. Ditto with the long slow successful taper. I shouldn’t have – I should have kept a good supply so I wasn’t dependent on getting more if required from my doc, plus all the comments about the depression coming back (it wasn’t!). At one point when I was really physically suffering, about 6 months after the very final dose in 2012 I asked my GP for some, on the basis that maybe I needed to put some back in just to let everything settle down – and also because I was desperate. He refused to prescribe it on the basis that as I’d had strokes and olanzapine is implicated in stroke it would be unethical for him to give it to me…!!!

So It’s useful to have some in hand so you can juggle it around – and, if necessary put it back in if you need to. Keeping control over the whole process.

Thank you Sally, for your encouragement. I am so scared of getting off Zyprexa. I did it before rather quickly, and the anxiety was unbelievably high. I was immobilized by it.
Now I am at 2.5, having cut back from 5 mg a few weeks ago. I have only been taking it for a month! As soon as I got on it, I wanted to get off.
I am thinking of cutting one dose in half every week until I am at 1.25, then cutting those doses in half week by week.
How did you taper off successfully?

Started at 20mg, dropped by 2.5 a time with several weeks between drops plus a 6 month sabbatical when I just stayed at 10mg because life was particularly stressful.It took me 15 months in all.

I’m not sure how you would be able to halve your doses at such (relatively) small doses unless you’re lucky enough to have found someone who will prescribe a liquid formulation? A pharmacist advised me not to cut tablets – something to do with how the body absorbs the drug?

Basic rule is – you simply can’t go too slowly and if/when you feel ill then put it back up for a while. The Risk Guide to Withdrawal is very good – all the basic information is there. Listen to your body too – if it’s complaining then feed some back in again. I’ve had to accept too that in the case of zopiclone which I still take – I got to a point where I was scraping bits off a tiny pill – then started getting bad withdrawals so gave up and thought – oh well. Can’t face any more so I still take it….

I am weaning off Olanzapine and Valium- am suffering panic- attacks, but not so bad. I was sectioned in a local pschiatric hospital for 28dsays about 6 years ago because of a pychotic episode. They diagnosed me as being Bi- polar, but my fear is off getting overexcited and locked up again because my moods are not “flattened and I am feeling more normal(whatever that is!), and I am convinced that I am not in fact Bi- polar at all. How do I get cleared of this Mis- diagnosis? Would really appreciate your input folks. Mad Mike

I am 30 years old and have been on 20mg olanzapine for about 10 years i cut down to 10mg for a week no problems then 5mg for week then the side effects started for the last 3 weeks I’ve been clean from it im suffering with hot sweats,insomnia i cant eat at all my feet shake uncontrollably at night,i have severe head aces vision problems night mears extreme angry and aggressiveness with friends and loved ones i cant function i feel like im permantly brain damaged now for life i feel like a zombie i feel like im going to die this drug is evil in the past i have been a heroin addict this is 10 times worst and harder to get off if not impossible if the side affects of olanzapine are a 10/10 id put heroin at 3/10 compared to it and heroin withdrawal was 5/7 days then back to my self this drug has ruined my life and there needs to be a review on the safety and long term effects of it i wouldn’t recommend anyone take this drug it has ruined my life

I just wanted to say that reading all these comments has made me feel, besides of course feeling almost beyond fury for what Olanzapine has, and is, doing to you all, but how incredibly brave you all are, and how much I hope you’ll continue to keep reducing the drug gradually, and knowing that however long it takes, you’ll get your lives back. Don’t ever give up. My son did, when the head pain and the voids in his thinking made him lose hope. I didn’t know about RxISK and this site then. I could have understood and maybe helped him to hold on. I have to say, his psychiatrist was appalling and taunted him as though he could help reporting feeling so dreadful. It was just like seeing someone attacking a wounded animal. Don’t let these dreadful people and their wretched drug do to you what happened to him. You are all so so brave. He was incredibly brave too, but he didn’t know where to turn, and nor did we. Thank heavens for this site, and for Sally telling her story. Too late for my son, who died in September 2012. but not for others. Hold on tight.

I have been off of Zyprexa for about 3 months…I was taking very small doses of Zyprexa and tapered off from 2.5m to 1.25m and then .62 but am sill having issues of anxiety, sweats, weight loss,headaches and lack of sleep. I have been off of Valium (taking anywhere from 7.5m to mostly 2.5) for about 2.1/2 months I went cold turkey and also have about the same withdrawal symptoms . I’ve tried everything for headaches and advil seems to work – my doctor and psychiatrist both prescribed Amitriptyline a small dose of 5m – I tried for a week or so and that only made matters worst so I discontinued. Can anyone shed light on what holistic approach or any other approach I should take? magnesium etc.? Many thanks!

Try taking 1000mg of fish oil with 300 mg of omega 3 and biotin….the fish oil helped me with my stomach pain and my muscle tension and anxiety… I think the drug messes with seretonin and most of it is in your gut…. The fish oil helped me a lot

I was only takin 1/2 of a 2.5 mg tablet. I’ve been weaning off slowly. Withdrawal is hell. I have all the symptoms of a panic attack that just doesn’t go away along with the feeling of a bladder infection that I have been tested for and is not there. I will not give up. I’m down to 1/5 if a 2.5 mg tablet now.

I am wondering also if there is anything at a health food store that may help with withdrawal symptoms. I just lowered my dose to 1/6 of a 2.5 tablet and still feel flu like. I also feel like I have a urinary tract infection but tests came back negative.

I have used antipsychotics (haldol) for a couple of years on and off. I hate this medicine, it makes me emotionally flat and zombified and I wish every day I had never visited a psychiatrist. I started to use it for anxiety and developped my first psychosis upon withdrawal.

Nothing – nothing! – however can describe the tortorous horror of Zyprexa withdrawal. I used it for only 4 months as a change from haldol. I developped all sorts of weird adverse effects, from hormonal problems, to fainting and dizziness, to weight gain, to nightmares.

Ever since withdrawal – i am now one year off – I feel like my complete personality changed. I am chronically psychotic, something I never was. I am also chronically deep dark depressed, terrified, suicidal, obsessive compulsive and extremely angry…something I wasn’t either. I have a very short fuse and crazily violent fantasies I am ashamed of telling people about. I was an extremely pacifist, gentle person before Zyprexa, someone who literally wouldn’t hurt a fly. After Zyprexa I hate myself and I hate others. I am estranged from my family and friends. I have the most scary revenge thoughts…especially towards psychiatrists, but also towards the most harmless people in my surroundings.

I am ashamed to admit this. But my life is ruined because of Zyprexa. It feels like I lost my soul… I’m such a different person now.

Any hopeful stories? After a year I have no hope that I will still change anymore. I want to get rid of the darkness that Zyprexa brought into my soul…

Positive olanzapine case study
I finally got off olanzapine in July 2016, so I have been without it now for 4 months and feel very well and extremely happy to have finally come off it. I have been taking it for 6.5 years at varying does from a maximum of 10mg down to only 0.0625mg when I finally came off it completely. I have found it a very hard drug to come off due to the anxiety and insomnia that I have felt many times when trying to stop taking it. My final success in coming off it was after I had read many people’s stories on blogs such as this and tried different pieces of advice that I came across. The key thing for me, as is stated by several people is the need to taper one’s withdrawal off it by slowing reducing the amount that you are taking, i.e. in my case from 10mg to 7.5mg to 5mg to 3.75 mg to 2.5 mg, to 1.125 mg, to 0.0625 and then finally to 0. I would recommend a minimum 3-month gap between any of those incremental reductions and for the last few changes it may be necessary to have a 6-month gap. I have found that it is also important to be in a sufficiently stable environment to be able to cope with some of the temporary sleep disturbances that result from reducing one’s dosage. Each time I reduced my pill dosage I had disturbed sleep for a few nights. It is also important to remain in contact with one’s doctor to advise what is happening. Key additional things that I did that may have been critical in my reductions were as follows; a) I read that taking magnesium supplements can reduce the anxiety affects and so I have been taking magnesium now for over 6 months and have found myself to be significantly less anxious. Quite why doctors don’t prescribe magnesium tablets to people generally baffles me as they appear to be affective and I understand that many people are deficient in magnesium (I found that they can be purchased in Asda for only £2 for 30 tablets). I also read that red dates (Ziziphus jujube) are another very good way of minimising helping with the sleep changes red dates (http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2012/03/red-dates-the-healthiest-fruit-on-earth/). My target internet price for these was £2.50 for 250 g (available from the Sous chef (http://www.souschef.co.uk). They appear to be good for insomnia and are also an excellent source of vitamins. In addition, I also took a standard multi-vitamin to ensure that there were not any other vitamin or mineral shortages that were potentially causing some of my symptoms. For the sleep disturbance when I gave up olanzapine completely, I also tried having a small glass of red wine in the evening before bed for a few weeks which I found helps with sleep as long as you don’t drink too much and remember to stop drinking after a few weeks, when the withdrawal is over.
I was put onto olanzapine by a psychiatrist when I was diagnosed as bi-polar after my marriage broke down. I had what would be classically described as a nervous breakdown and was hospitalised/sectioned for 3 weeks, with some psychotic symptoms. Looking back on it now, the pressure of earning a living to support a wife and 4 children in a fairly loveless marriage became too much for me and when it became clear to me that my wife wanted a divorce I had the breakdown. I have since been made redundant more than once when I have taken short periods off work for stress, but now find myself in both a less stressful job and also with a supportive relationship and I am now feeling better than I have for a very long time.
Olanzapine in my opinion is a helpful drug when one is in a desperate psychological state and one is finding it difficult to function. However, the down side of it is that it is very hard to withdraw from, even though it is officially classed as non-addictive. The body does seem to become dependent upon it. For lesser problems than a serious psychosis, I believe that the olanzapine medical ‘cure’ might be worse than the illness.
One of the things that I found olanzapine does is to give one very bad indigestion, i.e. a lot of burping, particularly late in the evening. This does not disappear on its own when one comes off the drug. I have found the best cure for this is to make tea with blended raw ginger, which generally appears to be excellent for the digestion and again I am not sure why doctors don’t recommend it to their patients with bad indigestion. I was prescribed proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to reduce acid production and it gave me appalling stomach cramps meaning that I was unable to continue the course, whereas ginger appears to have no side effects and works extremely well.
Other things that have now improved since I have come off olanzapine are as follows;
1) My sex drive has returned to normal; it had been strongly down on olanzapine.
2) I am now dreaming again, or at least remembering my dreams, which was something I never did when taking olanzapine, apart from when I first took it when I had some very bad nightmares.
3) I now only need 6-7 hours sleep a night and mostly wake refreshed, whereas I would sleep for 9-10 hours or so on olanzapine and then struggle to get out of bed in the morning.
4) I am no longer living in a ‘foggy’ state and have rediscovered my joy of life, i.e. with emotions, as olanzapine is a mood stabiliser and appears to limit the extremes of one’s emotions. The world has generally become a much brighter place for me.
5) I now smile again, having been rather joyless whilst taking it.
6) My eating habits have become more normal as olanzapine gives one a strong appetite, particularly when one first starts to take it. I put on 2.5 stone in weight on it, which I have still to lose.
Olanzapine seems to be affective as an anti-psychotic, and also reduces anxiety and has anti-depressant affects. Thus, when one comes off it one’s anxiety can go up and one can become depressed. My experience is that both of these can be overcome in time and the regime that I described above is what enabled me to do this. I no longer have psychosis and I believe this to be because I am now much less stressed. I do not know if I am truly bi-polar, however, I am no longer taking any medication and am happy and functioning well in life. I believe that the problems that I had were a result of life events and that once I had overcome the problems with the events that happened to me (end of marriage, not living with my children, selling house, losing job), then I became well again. I did recover eventually and in order of how they happened I got myself somewhere to live temporarily, then a new job, then somewhere to live more permanently where I could sometimes see my children, then eventually a new relationship. Along the way I changed job more than once as I found that employers can make one redundant quite quickly when they find out that you occasionally go off sick with stress. However, eventually I have managed to resolve most of the problems and it has only taken me 6.5 years to do! So I wanted to just say to anyone suffering from any of the symptoms that I had, or any of the side effects of taking olanzapine, it is possible to come off it and life can get much better in time; just take your time.

I’ve been on zyprexa for 2yrs I started out taking 20 mg for a yr then started tapering off from 20mg to 15 mg to cutting a 15 mg in half ..now a yr later I’m taking5mg … I gained 100 lbs the first yr and I’ve lost 30lbs since tapering off.. I can barely walk because of severe joint pain …( I could walk fine before ever taking zyprexa)..also my blood pressure is out of wack and I’m getting dark patches on face and arms…..I just hope I can get off this drug before it kills me

Hi everyone I have to share my story with you all on how I came off olanzapine with the help of niacin! I was on olanzapine for 2 years 10mg I cut down to 1.25 mg and the went off completely this was over a couple of months. When I went off it I had terrible withdrawals, panic attacks, and severe depression I couldn’t handle it so I went on cymbalta 60 mg that helped a little and 4 months down I was still feeling the side effects from olanzapine withdrawal. That is until 2 weeks ago I came across a video on YouTube about niacin (flush) and how it cured depression, anxiety and panic attacks, I read lots of online reviews and decided to give it a go! 4 days after taking niacin 500mg. ( it has to be the flushing kind) all my withdrawals were completely gone! I couldn’t believe it!! My depression and anxiety and panic attacks gone!!! I’m feeling 100% myself! I am now off the cymbalta too! I had to share my story as I want as many people to know and try it! The best thing about it is that you can try it while your on your Meds as it’s just a vitamin! I hope my story will help others!

I am at month 6 off of olanzapine, Lamorigene, and Clonazapine after being on them for 6 years, cold turkey. Don’t recommend. Thought I was going to die every day for four months. I started sleeping after 4 months. My hearing has returned to normal. My eyes have cleared. I had milky phlegm in them and drank homemade garlic tea to clear them and I exposed them daily to bright sunlight when possible. I eat lots of protein, healthy fats, oranges, and spinach plus other veges and fiber cereal. I have built up a healthy support system with my local church and ditched all my old friends. I have tried to walk 4 miles a day since stopping the drugs, although I walked before.

At 6 months, I was able to get a part time job, the eyes are clear. The skin is almost clear. The last things to hang on are skin sensitivity issues on my face, ears and scalp occasionally and I have muscle aches which come and go but I power through knowing it will speed the healing process. I learned how to recover from drugs in a twelve step program years before.

I am living my life. I have hope. My relationship with my son is phenomenal. He is profoundly impacted by the difference he sees. I was spiritually dead on these drugs and lacked a connection with others which is needed to thrive.

Hi All, Around 5 years ago I was self medicating using legal highs (Spice and similar) after the death of a family member and had a psychotic episode and was sectioned and placed in a UK psychiatric hospital. I was put on olanzipine at an immediate 20mg dose, no progressive dosage upwards. I’ve been on olanzipine for a little over five years and have come off it in the last 3 weeks. At the advice of my GP over the period of around a year I reduced the dosage from 10mg to 2.5mg, then 2.5mg every other day, then stopped completely. I gained about 5st in weight over 5 years, I gained more weight on lower dosage than the high one. Recent blood tests revealed elevated blood sugar and I’m now borderline diabetic.

For the first couple of weeks I was fine, I was very happy (perhaps too happy and in mania of some sort) then I crashed into a debilitating depression with extreme lethargy, nausea, insomnia, headaches, itchiness, return of psychosis, temperature dysregulation, scary thoughts and nightmares. I have no thoughts or intent to act out self harm or suicide. I sought advice from my GP and asked for referral for a mental health assessment and was refused with no explanation. I’m afraid I’ll have to go back onto olanzapine and titrate off again after reading the previous comments here as it sounds like I came off it much too quickly. I’m hoping to see my GP early next week and will demand a referral to talk with mental health professionals and seek proper, appropriate advice this time.

Anyone here who knows how to get Olanzapine in liquid form ? I have tried to withdraw 3 times already. But get so ill that I have to start again. I have read many places that the best way to withdraw is to reduce by 10% every four weeks. So the only way I can see that is possible is with liquid version of Olanzapine. But I can not figure out how to get it in liquid form. So I am very great full for information about it.

I have been reading this website and am perplexed at the with drawl symptoms From Zyprexa. I have been on 10 mg for more than 10 years. I cut back to 5 mg with no noticeable changes. So I stopped cold turkey. I felt depressed during the first few days and so I supplemented my Cymbalta with Wellbutrin. I feel great and I feel blessed not to have experienced tremendous withdraw that most of you are describing.

HI I WAS PUT ON 20MG OF OLANZAPINE ABOUT TEN YEARS AGO I GAINED 15 STONE AND JUST SLEPT MY LIFE AWAY THEN SUDENLEY SEVEN MONTHS AGO I STARTED TO WAKE UP I CUT FROM 20 TO 15 THEN TO 10 THEN 5 THEN 2.5 LEAVING ABOUT SIX WEEKS AT EACH LEVEL THE WORST PART OF WITHDRAWAL IS THE ANXIATY AND PANNIC ATTACS BUT IVE STARTED SO I MUST FINNISH IN ABOUT ANOTHER TWO WEEKS ILL DROP TO HALF A 2.5 PILL AND THEN STOP HOPEFULLY I WILL WRITE AGAIN WHEN IM OFF

I was on 7.5mg of olanzapine for 8 years. Two months ago after suffering high cholesterol for years, memory problems and apathy, my docs agreed that I should come off it. I dropped from 7.5mg to 5mg for 4 weeks, then to 2.5mg for 4 weeks. As of two weeks ago I am off it completely. Withdrawal symptoms included insomnia, night sweats and nausea about twice every two weeks. I’m hoping with time these withdrawal symptoms will go too. On the upside, I am more alert, my memory has definitely improved and I’m not oversleeping which was a major problem for me while on olanzapine. My mood remains stable and I’m definitely more productive in my day. I’m hoping that the weight I gained while I was on Zypreza will drop too with time. While I suffer the withdrawal, in no way would I be interested in going back on Olanzapine. It’s a quick fix during a major pyschotic episode, but should be no more than that in my opinion. Good luck to everybody getting off this drug.

I just read your post and hope you are feeling better. I went off Valium cold turkey and experienced withdrawal symptoms for two years on and off.

I have been on Zyprexa 2.5mg for three years and have been very slowly tapering. At times, I have anxiety and tingling skin, but the worst part is brain fog and short term memory issues. I am down to about 1mg .now, but will continue to taper slowly as I know I just can’t handle another long drawn out horrific withdrawal. In the end, I will probably just be taking a tiny crumb every other day and then every third day until I feel my body has finally adjusted to functioning properly without this nasty medicine. Then I will jump off and I will be free.

I hope your symptoms are getting less and less everyday. Come back and let me know how you are doing.

I have a son, 18 years old, coming off Olanzapine. Was mis-diagnosed with Schizophrenia 3 years ago, put on 40mg / day. Moved after a year, changed psychiatrist, started reducing the dosage, now down to 7.5, doing well at the moment. Just went down to 7.5 from 10, 3 days ago. Open to advice, and THANKS to all the brave souls who have shared their mis-experiences with Zyprexa – I wish I had found this page before precious wonderful gentle son got hooked. Thanks.

I WAS ON 20MG FOR 10 YEARS I STARTED TAPERING BY 2.5 EVERY SIX WEEKS UNTILL I WAS DOWN TO 2.5 THEN I CUT DOWN BY HALF TO 1.1 MG UNTILL THEN I HAD NO SIGNIFICANT EPISODES JUST A BIT OF ANXIATY AND THE ODD PANIC ATTACK BUT WHEN I CUT DOWN TO 0.5 MG IT TOOK JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS AND I HAD A MAJOR MELT DOWN I WAS PACING AROUND THE HOUSE TALKING TO MYSELF ADGITATED AND ANXIOUS TOOK 15MG DYAZAPAN WHICH DIDNT DO MUCH SO I TOOK 5MG OF OLANZAPINE TO TRY AND CALM DOWN IT WORKED AND NOW TWO DAYS LATTER MY BRAIN FEELS BRUSED AND SORE AND BACK ON 0.5 MG I JUST HOPE THAT IT WAS A ONE OFF AND NOT A REACRING SYMPTOM

i was put on olanzapine because i was suffering bad withdrewal from oapiates and was feft on it for all those years ? before olanzapine i had no mental health issues at all i just hope that it hasent screwed me up forever

well i got down to 0.5 of a mgram and thought id done it BUT it was then that the withdrawals got me i went manic its now 59 days since it all went wrong and im still having withdrawals im on 2.5 mgrams im more stable but dont feel right at all ill keep you informed

Hi, I’m currently on a high dose of olanzapine 20mg. I came off once during the summer cold turkey because I was sick of snoozing and eating my life away, but psychosis hit and I was forced to go back on them. I have done much healing since then and feel ready to come off again. Can anyone recommend the safest way of tapering? I cannot tell my Dr because he thinks I’m a paranoid schizophrenic which I simply am not!! I need to do it working with my acupuncturist and muscle testing on how to go about the tapering. Any advice would be welcome. Hope I hear from someone soon. Take care.

hi faye as you may have read ive almost done it i tapered from 20 mg very slowly ,reducing every six weeks i got to o.5 mg before the withdrawal really got me i had to go up to 2.5 mg before the withdrawal stopped it then took another four months at 2.5 before i felt almost right but ive lost 6 1/2 stone im going to wait till after christmas before i start tapering again only this time im going to reduce by 1/4 tablet every two months even on 2.5 mg im a different person i can even hold a conversation that i couldent do when on 20 mg

Hello everybody. My wife is clinically bipolar level 2. Been taking zypreza 10 mg, escitalopram 10 mg and lamotrigine 100mg on a daily basis since 2014 when she was diagnosed.
In July 2017 her new psychiatrist lowered her zypreza to 7.5 mg after a week, she had a crisis. One morning Began talking non sense and wanting to go to the bathroom to urine every 3 minutes. I Called 911 went to hospital and there she was like asleep but trying to get off the stretcher at all times. It was so awful. Then all doctors did on her many tests neurological and it was all normal. I told them to begin with her treatment and then the next day she was herself again.
So she can’t go lower on meds.
Any opinions

My story:
I was on 2.5 mg of olanzapine for one and a half years (prescribed for insomnia and anxiety), started to gain weight, getting speaking issues, and initial symptoms of tarditive dyskinesia (shaking uncontrollable limbs). So I decided to get off of olanzapine, told my psychiatrist so who said I should not get off of olanzapine, but if I want to I should ween off of it in 2 weeks time gradually and it will be fine.
I weened off of it in 6 weeks time instead, going very slowly (in the end I was taking small pieces of pill powder). Despite that, one week after my last dose, I got severe anxiety, sleeplessness, stroke-like symptoms, and severe digestive issues (diarrhea 3-4 times a day). I developed paranoid schizophrenia in a couple of days, I was not even able to walk down the street from phobias and hallucinations I got.
My hippocampus was damaged too, my spatial sense was gone, becoming unable to control and sense my limbs, I got severe memory and cognitive issues, and simultanagnosia.
I became totally dysfunctional and weak, so I started taking olanzapine again after 2 weeks, my anxiety was gone, I could sleep again, but the other symptoms stayed. The psychiatrist told me that is because I need more of the drug and I need other types of drugs too (SSRI etc.). The psychiatrist said I was already developing schizophrenia and OCD, and my symptoms are not related to olanzapine or its withdrawal.
This is a lie, because I am older than 30 and schizophrenia develops under 30 only. The truth is, olanzapine and the possible dopamine overload that resulted from the withdrawal burnt my neurons making me brain damaged. (My MRI shows no stroke, so it was not a stroke, it was neuron burnout.)
As a result of my new weird behavior and constant toilet times, I lost my job and my girlfriend, I lost my life. (I have an MSC degree, by the way.)
I attempted a second withdrawal half a year later, 3 months long slow dose reduction this time. This time, it worked, I did not get anxiety and sleeplessness. However, all other symptoms stayed. My digestion got so bad I almost died however.
No doctor was able to/willing to help me in my country (our healthcare is basically dysfunctional anyway).
Psychiatrists wanted to put me on other drugs, which I refused.

Some recovery:
Based on internet information, I started taking large doses of B12 vitamin (> 200 micrograms per day), and I healed my digestion to some extent with digestive aids. I also resumed exercising once I was strong enough again.
Soon after B12 vitamin treatment started, my schizophrenic symptoms started to diminish. Now, one year after, my schizophrenic phobic and hallucinative symptoms are gone up to 90%. My dopamine receptors seem to have normalized largely.

Symptoms that remained:
Memory, cognitive, and body control issues, simultanagnosia.

Current plan:
I am trying to rebuild my brain now, they say neurons slowly regenerate or new ones are built, I hope it is happening indeed.

Hope and my suggestions for others:
– If you are already on olanzapine and you were not schizophrenic before, immediately start weening off of it before it is too late and refuse any and all psychiatric drug (unless some sleeping pills or weak dosages of benzos like xanax), rather choose other means to relax. (Some substances may be demonized and illegal in your country, they are still less dangerous than antipsychotics in my opinion.) Ween off of it extremely slowly, if you took it for 1 year for example, ween off of it in 4 months or more by gradually reducing dosage to avoid dopamine overload which burns out your neurons.
– If you have tried to get off of olanzapine already and got brain damaged like me, start taking large doses of B12 vitamin as well on a daily basis. Start exercising, do whatever makes you feel better.
– If you have not taken any antipsychotics and you are reading this out of curiousity considering taking any, unless you are extremely schizophrenic and dysfunctional, DO NOT EVER TAKE ANY ANTIPSYCHOTICS!!!

General comment on psychiatry:
Psychiatry is interested in making dysfunctional sick zombies that need their drugs to survive and cashing in from this. Drug companies and most psychiatrists included. Their drugs do not heal any brain sickness, they only cause more brain sickness, even if they seem to provide some initial relief. Avoid psychiatry at any cost if you can. Use other means and do not feed this monster.

ive done it , im finally free from my olanzapine ordeal ,, its been 6 months since my last dose of the poison and strangely im no longer anxious ,ive not had a panic attack for months ,the mainia has passed ,even the audio and visual ilusinations have gone ,, my advise is to buy a pill splitter and go slowly ,its taken me over three years to get here but its been worth it ,to be me again

Hi
My name is Emily and i started olanzapine when I was 19, 10mg. I took 10mg daily for 6 years, (sometimes abusing it, proven to be a side effect) August 2017 I started 5mg until January 5th 2018. Then I stopped entirely. The first 3 days my face flushed, and my heart was so uncomfortable for hours upon waking. I immediatly was unable and unwilling and uninterested in eating food. By May I lost 30 pounds. (I was 117 before olanzapine, 180 when I decided to come off of it) and wasnt getting my period. And was giving pantoprozole for my stomach pain which i refused and smoke marijuana for instead. By August 2018 I was down another 30 some pounds and was 113 pounds and was told my “heart is arrythmic due to anxiety and stress”
I am 25yrs old as of October 2018 and its now January 11 2019 and i weigh 108 pounds, my heart hurts alot and I cant really deal without weed in my system and no one really takes me seriously. The hospital hasnt taken me seriously with the exception of my G.P. I have no means to work or make money and pretty sure me and my cat are going to die alone because all i did was take a pill knowing “Itll make you fat”. I was like OK! Welll…. dont take it. Its not just overweight…. i did something to my body and im going to die

Don’t think like that! We’ll get through this! I’ve been on and off of zyprexa since I was 12 and was prescribed 20mg for the past three years. Got a new dr and was surprised that I was taking so many different meds. Automatically started tapering me off a month and a half ago. Felt great for the first two weeks being off it. Then suddenly a lot of side effects started having. Insomnia, the worst anxiety I’ve ever had in my life and ocd where I kee in blinking. All of this started happening two weeks after I was off zyprexa. I have other symptoms just like people are saying above. Itchiness, heart arithmetic while I was on it (while I was on it), and high cholesterol. I’m really pissed because I genuinely trusted my previous drs, but they seriously fucked me. Every time I told my dr that I still feel depressed etc he just upped my dose of meds. When I switched to my new dr because of insurance reason she’s taking me off of a lot of stuff. I was on zyprexa, Lamictal, mirtazipine, khlotopin, and adderal. This past dr was so fucked up he was presribing me 100mg of adderal a day! My new dr was flabbergasted. Once I was off zyprexa I knew I was being fucked by drs for years. Been on meds on and off since I was five. I finally have found a good theropist and saw him after not sleeping for around 50 hours. He told me I looked like shit and I told him what was going on, and he told me that my dr sheet says I only have general anxiety and some type of depression that only shows up once a year. He’s the only dr that was honest with me and basically said “dude you’re on some fucked up stuff, get off of that shit right away” after countless drs he’s the only one that has been truly honest. I love my mom but because I had temper tantrums since I was five I became a Guinne pig for drs. I can’t blame her because I too thought drs were here to help, it is indeed the opposite. They lie about side effects and say shit that is habit forming isn’t. Fuck all drs. The only time people should be on meds is if they’re schitzos or are so unstable that they are trying to kill themselves or something. I’ve never felt crazy except for the past 3 weeks. I actually stared into the mirror for like 5 minutes making my eyes bulge out sweating I’m craxy. I have never experienced anything like this before and I’m scared because I see comments where people say they’ve been a year off and still feel horrible. I have high hopes though. But after this journey I am continually tapering off all my meds and hopefully will be off them all in three weeks. And I will never fucking trust drs or put myself on medication ever again.

I’m an MD and a clinical pharmacologist, but for more than 20 years, I’ve been using mainly holistic methods to treat my patients. I was actually involved in olanzapine research in the ’90s. I don’t have an ideological axe to grind. I am a scientist and a pragmatist. I use what works best for the patient, based on science. In 20 years, I have not found one good clinical reason to prescribe olanzapine for more than 2 months. So far, there’s always been a better holistic solution. Maybe it’s just luck?

This helps explain some of the side effects. And while I cannot find any science on the subject, I have a strong suspicion that olanzapine also depletes magnesium and Vitamin B1 (thiamine). This is based on clinical observation, not on empirical science.

In other words, super-supplementation is key when being treated with olanzapine, as well as during the withdrawal period.
Purely for educational purposes (for the curious among you), I often use Thiamine in doses of 500 mg daily and Magnesium in doses of 600 mg elemental magnesium daily during withdrawal. Coenzyme Q10 I typically prescribe at 200 mg daily during withdrawal phase. I don’t supplement melatonin for various reasons. I also find low dose CBD oil helps a lot. About 5-10% pure CBD oil in olive oil or MCT oil. I mostly prescribe 0.1 ml of this blend at night, below the tongue during withdrawal. The sublingual dosing is to sidestep the liver, which is affected by olanzapine.

All of the above purely for your enjoyment, of course, and not intended as medical advice. He who is his own doctor has a fool for a patient.

Appetite decreased after a few days. Around 3 weeks after quitting, withdrawals became more prominent. Had heart palpitations for one week and became more energetic, alert, and active. Went for 1 h walks a day outside, and palpitations went away. Some psychotic symptoms returned, paranoia, anxiety, and extreme sensitivity to sounds and objects moving in the periphery. Brain activity was speeding up and felt overly energetic and got insomnia.

The doctor prescribed melatonin for insomnia, it did not work. Instead, tried with sleeping pill Zolpidem, only took it 2 nights, it was not very effective. Decided to try exercise instead, 2-4 hours powerwalk for a few days, and this helped with insomnia much better than melatonin or narcotics. Speculation: exercise increases sleep quality, lowers anxiety, and help rewire and rebalance neuronal circuits. Other withdrawal symptoms decreased in intensity but over a period of a few weeks. After 2 months, some withdrawals persist and vary in intensity from day to day, however, overall towards the better and now much slimmer also.

Personally, I think that attitude and determination are good predictors of a success story. By no means am I saying that recovery is a walk in the park, but I think that staying positive is key to improved life quality and recovery. Try to be optimistic and focus on the small improvements and see them as milestones towards full recovery.